Allow fins at swimming pools in Belfast

Public swimming pools in Belfast have a blanket ban on the use of fins and paddles during public swim times. We are calling on Belfast City Council and GLL, the organisation that runs Better Leisure to review this policy.

Swimming as a sport is very much based around technique. If you consult a swim coach in order to improve, they will invariably prescribe drills (exercises) using fins and sometimes also hand paddles. The blanket ban on using these swimming aids in leisure centres provides a barrier to technique improvement.

The signatories to this petition recognise the safety concerns among leisure centre management. We call on Belfast City Council and GLL to adopt the policy common in other centres (e.g. Valley LC, Newtownabbey) of providing a single lane where fins and paddles may be used without affecting other pool users.